Assmann Death and Initiation

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DEATH AND

INITIATION

IN THE FUNERARY RELIGION

OF ANCIENT EGYPT*

Jan

Assmann

1 Introduction

The

idea of interpreting the r i tual and conceptual s tructure of the funerary religion of

Ancient

Egypt in the l ight of the anthropological topic of init ia tion is certa inly not

new.

Thirty years ago, in a f ine study on the Egyptian background of the Magic Flute ,

1

Siegfried M ore nz expre ssed the view that a central aspect of A ncien t Eg yptia n b urial

ceremonies lay in a sort of priestly init ia tion to the realm of the dead. Twenty years

later

h i s f o r m e r s t u d e n t R . G r i e s h a m m e r w a s a b l e t o s u b s t a n t i a t e t h i s g e n e r a l

hypothesis

by capi ta l iz ing on one c ruc ia l e lemen t , the Ne gat ive Co nfes s ion in Th e

Judgement of the Dead,

2

thereby elevating i t to the realm of fact. In 1956, in his

article e n t it l ed Z e r g l i e d e r n u n d Z u s a m m e n f u g e n ,

3

A l f r e d H e r m a n n h a d d r a w n

attention

to n u m e r o u s p a r a l l e l s f r o m i n i t i a t i o n r i t u a l s t h r o u g h o u t c o m p a r a t i v e

religious

h i s t o r y w h i c h c o u l d b e r e l a t e d t o a n a r c h a i c E g y p t i a n , a l b e i t o n l y

sporadically

a t t e s t e d , b u r i a l c u s t o m , a s w e l l a s t o t h e a d m i t t e d l y m u c h l a t e r

documented

my th-cons t i tuent kno wn as the dism em bering of the body of Osir is . Yet

again twenty years la ter , G.R.H. Wright arrived independently a t the same conclusion,

obviously wi thou t any knowledge o f He rmann ' s work , though he was now ab le to

draw

e x t e n s iv e ly o n t h e m a te r i a l w h ic h M i r c e a E l i a d e

4

h a d s i n c e g a th e r e d a n d

interpreted.

In his opinion, the shamanis t ic in i t ia t ion r i tes or igina ted f rom a funerary

context

and were m ode led a f te r the pa t te rn o f anc ien t fu ne r a ry ce rem onie s . T h is

Translated by M. Grauer and R. Meyer. The German version appeared in H. P. Duerr (ed.), Sehnsucht

n h

dem U rsprung. Zu Mircea Eliade Frankfurt 1983, 338-359.

1

See Morenz 1952.

2

Grieshamm er 1974; cf . Merkelbach 1987.

3

Hermann 1956.

4

Wright 1979, cf . Eliade 1975, 47 0 s.v. Init iationszerstiickelung . For the mo tif of dism emb erm ent in

the

Cretan Zagreus Myth see also B. Gallist l 1981, with references to the Egyptian embalming

ritual

B. Gladigow 1976 traces the topic of dismemberment back to hunting rituals and places

the

theme in the broader context of ethics and immortality.

[135]

Originalveröffentlichung in: W.K.Simpson (H rsg.), Religion and Philosophy in Ancient Egypt, Yale Egyptological

Studies 3, 1989, S. 135-159



136

JAN

ASSMANN

hypothesis

c o m b i n e s p r i o r c o n t r i b u t i o n s o n t h i s s u b j e c t w h i l e f o l l o w i n g i n t h e s a m e

vein . R . G r i e s h a m m e r ' s c o n c l u s i o n s , h o w e v e r , le a d t o t h e i n v e r s e l y f o r m u l a t e d

premi se

t h a t t h e i n i t i a t i o n r i t e s , a n d n o t v i c e v e r s a , f u r n i s h e d th e p r o t o t y p e s o f

Egypt ian

f u n e r a r y r e l i g i o n : a v i e w w h i c h h a s s o f a r b e e n t r e a t e d w i t h g r e a t r e s e r v e .

5

Our i n t e n t i o n h e r e i s t o e x a m i n e , u n d e r t h e s p e c i f i c a s p e c t o f i n i t i a t i o n , a n u m b e r o f

ways

i n w h i c h t h e g e n e r a l i d e a o f t h e p a s s a g e f r o m t h i s w o r l d i n t o t h e n e x t w a s

expressed i n t h e E g y p t i a n f u n e r a r y l i t e r a t u r e . T h e s e f u n e r a r y t e x t s a r e p r i m a r i l y

known

as t h e E g y p t i a n B o o k o f t h e D e a d ,

6

a l a t e c a n o n i z e d c o r p u s o f s p e l l s w h i c h

f irs t

a p p e a r e d o n p a p y r u s - s c r o l l s , in v a r y i n g o r d e r a n d c o m b i n a t i o n , i n t h e t o m b

equipment

o f d e c e a s e d p e r s o n s a t t h e b e g i n n i n g 1 6 t h c e n t u r y B . C . ( N e w K i n g d o m ) .

Quite

a f e w o f t h e s e s p e l l s c a n b e f o u n d c e n t u r i e s e a r l i e r , i n a n o l d e r a n d u s u a l l y

better

v e rs i o n , o n M i d d l e K i n g d o m c o f f i n s ( 2 1 5 0 - 1 7 5 0 B . C . ) . T h e s e a n d m a n y o t h e r s

are

k n o w n a s t h e C o f f i n T e x t s .

7

A m o n g t h e m , a b a s i c s t o c k c a n b e t r a c e d b a c k e v e n

as

f a r a s t h e O l d K i n g d o m , w h e r e , t o g e t h e r w i t h o t h e r s p e l l s s u b s e q u e n t l y o m i t t e d b y

funerary

t r a d i t i o n , t h e y w e r e u s e d to i n s c r i b e t h e w a l l s o f r o y a l b u r i a l c h a m b e r s f r o m

the

e n d o f t h e 5 t h d y n a s t y o n ( c a . 2 4 5 0 B . C . ) .

8

T h e s e P y r a m i d T e x t s r e p r e s e n t t h e

oldes t

s u b s t a n t i a l c o r p u s o f r e l i g i o u s t e x t s k n o w n to m a n k i n d . A p a r t f r o m t h i s

funerary

l i t e r a t u r e , w h i c h w a s p l a c e d i n t h e t o m b o f t h e d e c e a s e d s o t h a t h e m i g h t

secure

h i s e x i s t e n c e i n t h e n e x t w o r l d t h r o u g h c o m m a n d o f t h e a p p r o p r i a t e k n o w l e d g e

and w h i c h s h o u l d b e q u a l i f i e d a s e s o t e r i c i n t h e s e n s e t h a t i t w a s n o t m e a n t t o b e

seen

b y t h e e y e s o f m o r t a l s a n d t h e r e f o r e d i d n o t s h a r e i n t h e p r o c e s s o f l i t e r a r y

communicat ion,

t h e r e e x i s t s y e t a n o t h e r c a t e g o r y o f f u n e r a r y l i t e r a t u r e w h i c h m i g h t b e

descr ibed

a s e x o t e r i c . S u c h t e x t s , t h e i m p o r t a n c e a n d e x t e n t o f w h i c h g r a d u a l l y

i nc r eas ed

i n t h e c o u r s e o f t i m e , t o o k t h e f o r m o f i n s c r i p t i o n s , a c c o m p a n i e d b y

representat ions, i n t h o s e p a r t s o f t h e t o m b a c c e s s i b l e t o v i s i t o r s . W e s h a l l d r a w o n

texts

f r o m b o t h t h e s e s o u r c e s f o r t h e p u r p o s e o f o u r a n a l y s i s ; f r o m w h i c h s o u r c e i n

particular n e e d n o t , a s a r u l e , c o n c e r n u s h e r e , s i n c e b o t h s e e m l a r g e l y t o c o n c u r i n

their

r e s p e c t i v e t r e a t m e n t o f t h e p a s s a g e f r o m t h i s w o r l d i n t o t h e n e x t .

The g e n e r a l i d e a o f t r a n s i t i o n u n d e r l y i n g a ll c o n c r e t e f o r m u l a t i o n s o f t h i s t h e m e

is

o f o n t i c n a t u r e : i t i s c o n c e i v e d a s a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n f r o m o n e s t a t e o f b e i n g t o

another w h i c h th e d e c e a s e d m u s t u n d e r g o . T h e E g y p t i a n l a n g u a g e h a s a s p e c i f i c w o r d

for t h i s o t h e r s t a t e o f b e i n g : 3h ( a k h ) , w h i c h i s u s u a l l y r e n d e r e d a s s p i r i t a n d

s p i r i t - s t a t e . T h e p h o n e t i c r o o t j)3h c o n v e y s t h e b a s i c m e a n i n g s o f l i g h t ,

br ightness a n d r a d i a n c e . T h e f e m i n i n e f o r m Sh t ( a k h e t ) d e s i g n a t e s t h a t r a d i a n t

place

i n t h e h e a v e n s w h e r e t h e s u n rise s a n d s e t s , b u t a l s o t h e l a n d o f t h e b l e s s e d t o

5 Bes ides the work of M orenz 1952, which is representative of the general att itude, cf . Bonnet 1952,

9 96; J.G. Griffiths, in: Lexikon der gyptologie IV 198 0), 276. Esp ecially careful is C.J.

Bleeker 1965, but he ignores or excludes the evidence on which this study is based.

6 Th e latest translations are due to R.O . Faulkner 198 5.

7 de Buck 19 35 -19 61 ; translations: R.O. Faulkner 19 73 -19 78 ; P. Barguet 1986.

8 Sethe 193 5-1 92 2; latest translation: R.O. Faulkner 1969.



Death a n d I n i t i a t io n in t h e F u n e r a r y R e l i g i o n o f A n c i e n t E g y p t

137

which

t h e d e c e a s e d j o u r n e y a f t e r d e a t h . R a d i a n t p l a c e , i n t h e O l d K i n g d o m , i s a l s o

the

n a m e of t h e k i n g ' s p y r a m i d - t o m b , a n i n d i c a t i o n th a t h i s e n t o m b m e n t is th e

pref igurat ion

o r t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f h i s a s c e n t t o t h e h e a v e n s .

9

T h e A K H - s p h e r e is a

world

o f m y t h i c a l

1 0

v a l u e s a n d r e a l i t i e s w h i c h , i n t h e c o u r s e o f t h e O l d K i n g d o m ,

gradually

o v e r l a y e d a n e v e n m o r e a n c i e n t w o r l d o f t a n g i b l e c u l t ic o b j e c t s a n d r i t u a l s .

The s p o k e n w o r d p r o v i d e s t h e i d e a l m e a n s o f t r a n s p o s i n g t h e r e a l i t i e s o f y o n d e r

world i n t o t h i s w o r l d o f s y m b o l i c o b j e c t s a n d r i t u a l s , b u t a l s o o f t r a n s f e r r i n g t h e

decea s ed

t o t h e b e y o n d , w h i l e e n a b l i n g h i m t o r e t a i n h i s e a r t h l y c a p a c i t y . T h e

Egyptian

d e s c r i b e s t h i s f u n c t i o n o f t h e s p o k e n w o r d w i t h t h e c a u s a t i v e d e r i v a t i o n o f

the

p h o n e t i c r o o t j)3h, t h u s a r r i v i n g a t s-3h t o t r a n s f i g u r e . I t i s t h i s b a s i c b i p o l a r

structure

o f E g y p t i a n r e l i g i o u s t e x t s i n g e n e r a l , b u t m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y o f t h e f u n e r a r y

literature

o f t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h i s w o r l d o f v i s u a l r e a l i t i e s a n d y o n d e r w o r l d

of

m y t h i c a l r e a l i t i e s w h i c h s h a l l c o n c e r n u s a g a i n a n d a g a i n i n t h e f o l l o w i n g

discourse. W i t h i n t h i s o n t i c d i s t a n c e b e t w e e n t h e h e r e a n d y o n d e r , b e t w e e n v i su a l

and

m y t h i c a l r e a l i t y , l i e s t h e i n i t i a t o r y a n d m y s t i c a l c h a r a c t e r o f t h e E g y p t i a n f u n e r a r y

religion. T h e w o r l d o f m y t h i c a l r e a l it y s t a n d s f o r a c e r t a i n k n o w l e d g e , t o w h i c h t h e

deceased

i s i n i t i a t e d , f o r a c o s m i c s p h e r e , t o w h i c h h e i s t r a n s f e r r e d , a n d f o r a s t a t e o f

being

w h i c h h e m u s t a t t a i n . L e t u s d i s t i n g u i s h , f o r t h e s a k e o f c l a r i t y , b e t w e e n t w o

variants

f o u n d i n t h e f o r m u l a t i o n s a n d i l l u s t r a t i o n s o f t h e p a s s a g e f r o m t h i s w o r l d t o

the

n e x t : f i r s tl y , t h o s e c o n c e r n e d p r i m a r i l y w i t h t h e s p a ti a l a s p e c t ( t r a n s i t i o n ) a n d

secondly

t h o s e p r e s e n t i n g a m o r e b i o m o r p h i c m o d e l ( r e b i r t h ) . T h a t b o t h v a r i a n t s i n

no

w a y e x c l u d e o n e a n o t h e r , b u t a c t u a l l y s t a n d in a c o m p l e m e n t a r y r e l a t i o n s h i p a n d i n

many

w a y s o v e r l a p , n e e d s n o e x p l a n a t i o n . A r e w e n o t , a f t e r a l l , d e a l i n g w i t h

metaphors

o f a n o n t i c t r a n s f o r m a t i o n w h i c h c a n n e i t h e r b e d e p i c t e d n o r f o r m u l a t e d ?

2. The Biomorph ic M ode l s o f Transformat ion

2.1 Dismemberment and Rejo in ing

Dismemberment

o f t h e c o r p s e i s a t t e s t e d i n E g y p t b o t h a r c h e o l o g i c a l l y , i . e . i n b u r i a l

practices

a n d i n f u n e r a r y l it e r a t u r e , w h e r e i t r e p r e s e n t s a c e n t r a l a s p e c t o f r e l i g i o u s

thought.

A r c h e o l o g i c a l a n d li t e r a r y e v i d e n c e , h o w e v e r , a r e s e p a r a t e d b y a l o n g s p a n o f

t ime a n d a r e , f o r a n u m b e r o f f u r t h e r r e a s o n s , d i f f i c u l t t o r e l a t e t o e a c h o t h e r . E v i d e n c e

of

t h e b u r i a l p r a c t i c e s p a n s t h e t i m e f r o m t h e E a r l y D y n a s t i c P e r i o d t o t h e b e g i n n i n g

9 C f . t h e w i d e s p r e a d p a r a p h r a s e f o r t h e f u n e r a r y p r o c e s s i o n : t o l e t t h e g o d a s c e n d t o h i s h o r i z o n

Luddeckens 1 9 4 3 , 5 5 f f . , # 2 1 ) , p r o b a b l y o f r o y a l o r i g i n . T h i s t e x t i s o b v i o u s l y q u o t e d a t t h e

beginning o f inuhe (R 7) as a des cr ip t ion o f a roya l funera l .

10 I a m u s i n g h e r e t h e t e r m m y t h i c a l i n t h e s e n s e o f r e f e r r i n g t o t h e d i v i n e w o r l d ; c f . A s s m a n n

1977a 7 - 4 2 , w h e r e I p r o p o s e d t o d i s t i n g u i s h b e t w e e n t h i s b r o a d s e n s e o f th e te r m , w h i c h i s t h e

usual

o n e i n E g y p t o l o g y , a n d a m o r e s t r ic t o n e r e s t r i c te d t o m y t h a s a k i n d o f n a r r a t i v e .

11 S c h o t t 1 9 4 5 ; A s s m a n n 1 9 8 4 , 1 0 2 - 1 1 7 .



138

JAN

ASSMANN

of

the 4 th dynas ty , though i t a lways repre sen ts an excep t ion to the ru le and an

exclusive preroga t ive of high s tanding individua ls .

1 2

The cus tom d isappea rs in the

wake

of the deve lopment and gene ra l adop t ion o f emba lment and mummif ica t ion ,

1 3

and

must rank as i ts predecessor . As a l i te ra ry motif , the concept of d ismemberment

clearly appears in an exclusively negative context:

14

it is e ither one of the dangers in

the

ne therworld , which must be avoided a t a l l cos t ,

15

or a metaphorical i l lustra tion of

the

init ia l s ta te of want, which the manifold resuscita tion ri tes of the funerary cult take

up

in the sense of a

restitutio ad integrum

The concep t o f d i smemberment appea rs

here solely as the logical prerequisite of r i tual acts , which are conceived as a re joining

of

the body.

In

the context of the myth of Osir is , the dismemberment of the god 's body has dua l

function

and meaning, to which corresponds a dua l t radi t ion. Se th has not only ki l led

his

brother Osiris , but a lso, in a second act of violence, cut his corpse to pieces and

thrown

the se in to the wa te r . So fa r , a l l ve r s ions o f the myth agree . For the one

tradition

however , th is d ismemberment represents nothing e lse but a ca tas t rophic s ta te

of

want, precisely as the funerary texts describe i t . This s ta te now becomes the starting

point

of res tora t ive ac ts , the goa l of which is to cure the condi t ion of dea th . The

rejoining

of the l imbs of Osiris , found only after a long search, became the prototype

for

the ov erco m ing of dea th and furn ished the my thica l precedent

17

for emba lment .

Embalment and mummification, in the l ight of the myth of Osiris , are equated with the

restoration of l i fe to the body, which had by no means to be r i tua l ly dismembered

beforehand

s ince i ts l i fe lessness a lone was mythica l ly in te rpre ted as dismemberment .

Dismemberment

i s thus a symbol fo r the d i s in tegra t ion o f a l iv ing en t i ty and a

mythical image for the condi t ion of dea th i tse l f .

18

In the other t radi t ion, th is same

mythical

episode becomes an e t io logica l myth expla ining the spreading of the cul t of

Osiris

throughout Egypt . The water has carr ied away the pieces of Osir is ' body and

washed them a shore in 14 diff ere nt place s in the coun try, w here they w ere p reserv ed

as

holy relics and formed the nucleus of the Osiris-cult .

19

Only the f irs t of these traditions shall concern us here . The embalming process, to

which it refers , is re la ted to the topic of init ia tion in manifold ways. I t is conceived not

so

mu ch as a preserva t ion of the corpse , but ra ther as i ts t ransf igura t ion to a new bod y:

See Hermann 1956 and G.R.H. Wright 1979.

3

For Egypt ian m um m if icat ion techniques see David 1979. For the purpose of the present study

Sethe 1934 is still valid.

4

In this respect I agree com pletely with Griff iths 1980 5I ff .

5

Cf. Zand ee 1960 esp. p. 147ff .

6

Cf . Assmann 1973 121-1 25 .

7

For th is t erm c f . van der Leeuw 19 33 161 -18 0; El iade 19 54 /58 194 -20 4 .

8

Cf . Assm ann 1973.

9

See Beinl ich 1984.



Death

and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt

139

one

fil led with magic ,

20

the perishable substances of which have been replaced by

everlasting ones,

21

resting in the mummy-cover as if i t were a kind of magic garment.

The Egypt ian word fo r mummy, s

c

h, a lso mea ns nobi l i ty , d ign i ty and denotes the

elevated sphere of existence to which the deceased has been transferred and init ia ted

in the course of the process of embalment . The mummy-case i tse l f gradua l ly evolved

into

increas ingly lavishly decora ted s tucco-car tonnage and woo den anthropoid coff ins ,

whereby the pictoria l motifs and decoration patterns merely represent an iconographic

formulation of the exact same AKH-sphere which is expressed in funerary l i terature

by means of the spoken and written word.

2 2 Rebirth

2 2 1

Placement in the coff in as regressus ad uterum

In acco rdan ce with the pr in c iple of t ran sf ig ur a t io n, as the corre la t io n of th is

world's

symbolic objects and actions with yonder world of values and reali t ies , the

coffin beco me s the body of the sky- and mo ther-go ddess , thus enabling the placin g

of

the bod y in the co ff in to be transfigu red into the ascent of the dece ased to the

heavens

and the return to the mother-goddess {regressus ad uterum .

22

In Egy pt, the

sky

i s conce ived a s a f ema le en t i ty , which means tha t we a re no t dea l ing wi th

mother-earth,

but with mo ther-sky. The sky-godd ess is the Egypt ian manifes ta t ion

of the Grea t Mother . A centra l aspec t of th is be l ie f is the fac t tha t the Egypt ians

imagined the deceased a s be ing the ch i ld ren o f th i s Mothe r -of -a l l -Be ings . Th is

mother-child relationship could be atta ined in death only, through absorption into the

goddess:

The mother of mill ions, who receives hundreds of thousands.

2 3

She loves the entering, she loathes emerging;

the entire land longs to be there.

24

Their mother is she, who created them all:

they enter her, all (of them).

25

20 For some exx. of this formula see Assmann 1969, p.196, n.22.

21 Cf. similar m otifs in the contex t of the sham anistic initiatory dism em berm ent, see Eliade 19 75.

22 Cf. Rus ch 1922; Ass ma nn 1972, 115ff.; id., in:

Lexikon der gyptologie

IV 1980) , 266 -27 1 .

23

Dav ies 1933, pi . 55.

24

Pap. Dub lin 4, ed. Pierret 1874, pp. 83 ff.

25

Cairo, Sarcoph agus of Harem hab Late Period) ed. Piehl III, 67 ff.



140

JAN

A S S M A N N

O thou wetnurse, into whom it is good to enter ,

O thou, in to whom each and everyone ente rs , day a f te r day

O

Grea t Mother , whose chi ldren a re not de l ivered "

2 6

The

texts underline the indissolubili ty of this bond, or more precisely of the embrace

into

which the decea sed, w hen la id in his coff i n , ente rs with the sky- the m oth er-

goddess

the goddess of the dead. The concept of rebir th , however , s t i l l p lays an

important

role . " I sha l l bear thee anew, re juvena ted," exc la ims the sky-goddess to the

deceased in one of m any such texts inscribed on or in nearly ev ery co ffin and tom b.

27

I

have spread myse l f ove r thee , I have born thee aga in a s a god . " Through th i s

rebirth

the deceased becomes a s ta r -god, a member of the AKH-sphere , a new ent i ty .

This rebirth, however, does not imply a de-livery, a separation, but takes place inside

the

mother ' s womb, ins ide the coff in and sky.

28

The constella tive rela tionship of the

deceased and the mother-goddess, as shown in pictoria l representations and texts , is

interpreted

and activated in the sense of affi l ia tion and rebirth. I t does not represent a

transitional

s ta te , but the e te rna l , una l te rable bas is for a new and higher form of

existence.

B y t r a n s f i g u r i n g t h e a c t o f " l a y in g t h e d e c e a s e d i n t h e c o f f i n " t o a

r r ssus ad uterum the path of l ife is given a cyclic orientation. The deceased thus

gains access to a realm of existence inside her body and is a llowed to take part in the

cyclic

e ternity of the stars , the r is ing and sett ing of which the Egyptians interpreted as

an

e ternally repeated entering and being born in the sky-goddess.

29

2.2.2

Coronation and Rebirth

The

d e c e a s e d , n o w r e b o r n t h r o u g h t h e s k y - g o d d e s s a s a g o d h i m s e l f , is

subsequently

b r e a s t - f e d b y d i v i n e n u r s e s a n d e l e v a t e d t o t h e h e a v e n s . T h i s

sacramental

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n "

3 0

ha s i t s roo ts in a d i f fe ren t s e t o f r i t e s than those

surrounding

the " laying of the dece ased in the cof f in ," nota bly in the "bur nin g of

incense

31

( the r i s ing fu m es be ing a sym bol o f the a scen t to the hea ven s ) and in

26 Pap. Louvre 3148 , XI. The se and other quotes from Lexikon der Agyptologie IV, 26 8ff .

27 For a very incomplete com pilation of these texts see Rusch 1922. About 70 different texts in am ong

1000 variants are known to me.

28 In one of these texts the mother and sky-g odd ess asserts: I shall never give birth to thee , see S chott

1965 8 1 -8 7 . Th e Egy pt ian desired to rejuvenate in the cof f in (cf . e .g . the ta le of the

hipwre ked Sailor .

29

For the terminolog y of t ime and eternity see Ass ma nn 1975.

30 Sakramentale Aus deutung , for this term see Assm ann 1977a, 15-2 8.

31 E.g. Otto 1960, scene 64.



Death

and Initiation in the Funerary Re ligion of A ncient Egypt

141

libation

32

(fluids being a symbol of divine milk). I t should be noted that sacramental

interpretations

such a s r eb i r th th rou gh the sky -go dd ess o r the re jo in ing o f the

limbs,

in the ir capac i ty of events taking place in the divine or AKH-sphere , of ten

enough

belong to completely different sets of cultic actions than those connected with

the lay in g of the deceased in the co f f i n . A seconda ry app l ica t ion o f one o f the

aforementioned

sacramenta l in te rpre ta t ions , for exam ple , may be found in the context

of

the r i te of anointm ent , wh ich migh t be accom panied by the word s : Thy mo ther

Nut has born thee on this day.

33

Where the action is concerned with the rearing of the

child-god,

a conspicuous role is p layed by the two goddesses personifying the c rowns

of

the Eg yp t ian do uble K ing dom . On the ba s i s of th i s fun c t io n , the G reek s ev en

identified one o f them wi th E le i thy ia , the Greek goddess r e spons ib le fo r he lp ing

women

to give birth.

34

We can therefore hardly go wrong in assuming that the r i tes

explained

as the nu rsing of the chi ld-g od origina ted in the royal coro natio n ri tual.

35

Seen

under these aspec ts , the fam ou s cyc le of representa t ions know n as the myth of

the divine bir th , which , in som e N ew Kingd om temp les , depic ts the annou ncem ent ,

begettal,

bir th , nurs ing and c ircumcis ion of the roya l chi ld ,

36

appear: , in a different

light.

Until now, i t had always been interpreted as an elevation of the actual bir th of

the king to a mythica l sphere .

3 7

I t s eems to me , howeve r , tha t a r e fe rence to the

coronation

or, better yet, to an init ia tion to kingship preceding the coronation in the

sense

of a na issance myst ique

38

would be much nearer to the mark.

39

It is admittedly

not the sky-goddess, but the actual earthly mother of the child-king who appears as

protagonist

in the cycle of divine begetta l and birth. In the nursing scene, however, the

action

is taken over by the cow-shaped manifes ta t ions of the sky-goddess , the exac t

same

ones , in fac t , f rom wh ich the deceased w ishes : O h, tha t I may aga in come into

being under her udders.

40

It is precisely this mythical icon of the child-king suckling

under

the Hathor-cow which became the pr imary cul t image in the Hathor temple of

Hatshepsut

in Der e l-Bahri .

The

con cept of an init ia tion to kin gsh ip bring s us, with out any dou bt, to the heart

of

the problem. I f such an ini t ia t ion t ruly exis ted and ac tua l ly took the form of a

3

See e.g. ibd., scene 63.

33

Otto, op.ci t . , scen e 55A . The fol lo wi ng sen tence se em s to refer to the idea of in i t iat ion ( the

translation is not com pletely certain): Thou art made into one w ho know eth the unknown .

34

Heerm a van Voss 1980, 366 .

35

See Leclant 1951, 123 -127 .

36 See Brunner 1964.

37

Brunner 196 4; for the interpretation as a ritual (of birth), see Barta 1975 .

38

Eliade 1958.

39 This interpretation is exp laine d in As sm ann 1982 .

4

Book of the Dead 148. Cf. es-Sayed 1980.



142

JAN ASSMANN

naissance myst iq ue wi th subseq uent nurs ing and e levat ion to the heavens,

4 1

then,

and only then , may we consider the in i t ia t ion ceremony to be the source and the

prototype

of the corresponding funerary bel iefs. In this case, the ini t iat ion ceremonies

of l iving human beings could not possibly have originated from the ri tes surrounding

the pas sage to the nex t wo rld. It wo uld, on the contrary, seem m ore logical , if the

initiation ri tes of this wor ld had been transp osed , togeth er with their correspo ndin g

sacramental interpretat ions, into the next world. Unfortunately, this happens to be a

very disputed area of research, where evidence is not only sparse, but also extremely

difficult

to interpret . Th e aforem entio ned corr elat ions can in no way be con sidered to

be establ ished fact . They are, however, far less bold than those formulated in another

contribution to the topic of reb irth. I m ention i t here — with out going into detai l —

because

i t has begun to exert considerable influence in the field of Egyptology. It is

the e ighth chapter of Chr . Desroches-Noblecourt ' s book on Tutankhamun, in which

the hardly disturbed findings of his tomb are interpreted with remarkable, i f somewhat

overstrained sen s i t i v ity a s a com plex o f fune ra r y equ ipm en t m ean t t o in su re the

rebirth

of the deceased king.

42

The idea of the ascent to heaven is not realized in the birth cycle, but expressed in a coronation text

of Thutm osis III, which has obviou s initiatory associations:

He opened for me the door-leaves of heaven

and unfolded the gates of his horizon.

I rose to heaven as a divine falcon

and saw his secret image in heaven.

I worshipped His Ma jesty . . .)

I beheld the transformations of khti

on his secret ways of heaven.

Re himself established me

by distinguishing me with the crowns on his head,

his

Uraeus remaining at my forehead.

I

was furnished with his <z

£/i-power

and acquainted with the wisdom of the gods like Horus,

when he coun ted his body i.e. beca me m ature)

in the house of his father Am un-R e etc.)

Compare for the ascent to heaven also n.43.

Cf. Desroches Noblecourt 1963; cf. Westendorf 1967.



Death


143

3 Tran sition as a physical pa ssag e

3 Kno w l e dg e

Those form ula tion s of the transit ion to the next wo rld where the idea of a phy sical

passage

predomina tes speak of a pa th , a long which the deceased must proceed. Such

texts desc ribe the aspired high er sphere of existe nce princip ally as a so jo ur n in one

specific

fa r off p lace . The Pyramid Texts , our oldes t corpus of funerary l i te ra ture ,

locate

this e ternal abode in the northern sky. The path along which the deceased must

travel in order to reach this place is a lmost entire ly restr ic ted to the idea of ascending

the

heavens and to the manifold ways of maste r ing both the ascent

43

and the crossing

of

the sky.

44

This re la t ive ly s imple scheme was subsequent ly (a t the t ime when the

Coffin

Texts becom e our representa t ive source) enorm ously com plica ted by the fac t

that

a conception of the netherworld, which had originally been the sole privilege of

the

king, suddenly becom es access ible to a l l. We now f ind an und erw orld , cente red

around the god Osir is , s tanding in a complementary re la t ionship to the Old Kingdom's

exclusively

c o s m i c c o n c e p t i o n o f a h e r e a f t e r r u l e d b y th e s u n - g o d R e . A s a

consequence

of th i s ve r i t ab le r evo lu t ion o f idea s , theo log ica l specu la t ion on the

hereafter

unde rgoes a process of d if fe rent ia t ion and deve lo pm ent of h i ther to u nkn ow n

extent.

The maste r ing of th is complex and s teadi ly growing body of knowledge on the

next

world now becomes the pr imary concern of the deceased. The main purpose of

this

n e w g e n r e of f u n e r a r y l i t e r a tu r e i s t o e q u i p t h e d e a d w i th t h e n e c e s s a r y

knowledge.

T h e f o r m u la t i o n o f t h i s k n o w le d g e g iv e s t h e im p r e s s io n o f b e in g a

science

of i t s own and , cur ious ly enough , i t r e f le c t s the typ ica l bureauc ra t ic and

systematic

style of Egyptian daily l ife , transposed to the next world.

45

This media t ive

literary qua l i ty has the advantag e of mak ing the e te rna l d imen sion of the hereaf te r

accessible

to the ear thly sphere of unders tanding. In other words , i t a l lows for the

possibility

of describing it as a conceivable plurali ty of consti tuents , which may be

carefully

ordered and named: the 2 ways, the 7 gates, the 21 portals , the 7 heavenly

cows and their bull , the 14 hil ls , the 12 crypts , the f ie ld of reeds, the offering-fie lds,

the

door-keepers and heralds, the councils and judges, the individual parts of the ferry

and

of the catching net, e tc . e tc . .

.

46

The deceased must not only know the names of a l l

these

e n t i t i e s a n d e v e r y d e t a i l c o n c e r n in g t h e i r n a tu r e , h e m u s t a l s o h a v e f u l l

command

of the words needed to face each and everyone of them. The topography of

43

See Assm ann 1977c; Da vis 1977; J.M. Paysas 1979.

44

Cf. Kees 1977, 67 -9 7.

45

The most important study of this codif icat ion of kno wled ge is Kee s, 1977. For the scient i f ic

character

of the cosmographic branch of funerary l iterature see Hornung 1979b, 217-224; D.

Mueller 1972, 100, speaks of scientif ic systematization .

46

For early scien tific cod ifica tion s in respect to the field of offer ing s and the field of reeds see D.

Mueller

1972; Lesko 197 1-72. For B D 153 see Dino Bidol i 1976, pp.81ff .



144

JAN ASSMANN

the hereafter described in these spel ls is so ful l of dangers because of the demonic

creatures inhabit ing i t . The netherworld appears therein fi rst and foremost as a social

sphere,

in which the deceased must move and, eventual ly, integrate himself by means

of the spoken word: by appeal ing , conjur ing , in t imidat ing , beseeching, threa tening ,

answering, e tc . . . The accumulat ion of such an enormous body of knowledge based on

pure specu la t ion and mean t t o in su re ind iv idua l sa lva t ion ( i . e . i n t he sense o f

overcoming death) reminds one of the Gnosis and must surely represent one of i ts

roots.

Puri ty, in the sense of del iverance from the burdens of earthly existence, may

only be a t ta ined through knowledge. Puri ty and knowledge, these two concept are

closely interw oven ; doe s not the dece ased assert : I kno w the nam es . . . I am pu re ?

3.2 The path to eternal sustenance

In

the many spel ls concerned with the sustenance of the dead, the dest inat ion of the

deceased's

voy age is def ined again and again as yon der shore, upo n which the gods

stand;

47

he wh o set tles there shal l not perish

48

or shal l com e forth as a god .

49

His

wish is to set t le there, ben eath yo n sycam ore . . . in the mid st of plenty; he wh o lands

there, he grows not weary, he who tarries beneath her (i .e . the sycamore), he is as the

Great God .

5 0

To reach th is p lace wh ere M aat i s,

51

th is d iv ine abode hold ing the

promise

of eternal l i fe and god-l ike existence, the deceased must undergo a series of

examinations: he must rouse the ferryman from his s leep and induce h im to make the

crossing, he must secure a ferryboat , avoid the ca tching-net s t re tched out be tween

heaven

and earth and convince the inhabitants of the heavenly world that he is one of

them. T h e o n l y w a y o f s u c c e s s fu l l y w i t h s t a n d i n g t h e s e e x a m i n a t i o n s i s t h ro u g h

knowledge, for these take place in the form of interrogat ions. He is fi rst interrogated

by

the ferryman fol lowing a pat tern of examination which Dino Bidoli interprets as an

initiation

to the secre ts of a pro fes s ion . I t s consis t s of a cros s-ex am inat ion wi th

predetermined quest ions and answers, a typical craftman's examination at tested in the

most varied ages and cul tures and even found, unt i l recently, in the guilds of modern

Egypt.

52

The deceased must not only proclaim his identi ty, prove his competence and

give the dest inat ion of his voyage, he must , above al l , know the secret names of the

individual parts of the ferry and be able to put togeth er a m yst ica l ship by the sole

means of this my st ical lang uag e. Th is langu age cons ists of nothin g else but name s,

roles

and even t s be long ing to the d iv ine AKH-sphere , t he pu rpose o f wh ich i s t o

transpose the individual parts of the ferry into the AKH-sphere by making use of the

47 CT IV 38 i-1; sim ilarly III 98 k-1; 145 a-e etc.

48 B D 98 and e lsewhere .

49 CT III 145.

5 CT III spell 203.

5 CT III 143.

52 Bidoli 1976 p.30.



Death

and In i t ia t ion in the Funerary Rel ig ion of Ancient Egypt

145

same type of sacramental explanation as that found in connection with cultic objects

and r i t e s . T h e d e c e a s e d a v o id s t h e c a t c h in g - n e t i n p r e c i s e ly t h e s a m e w a y : b y

successfully

using the mystical language to apply specific names to the various parts

of th e n e t , h e t r a n s p o s e s t h e a c t i o n i n to t h e A K H - s p h e r e a n d p r o j e c t s h i s o w n

dangerous

situation onto a mythical plane, where i t may be resolved in the context of

an

appropriate mythical precedent.

53

There are many more spells of this type which I

should like to mention here , despite the fact that they do not s tr ic tly belong within the

frame of this discussion. Before entering the hall of judgement (see also section 3.3),

the deceased must again be able to transpose the individual parts of the gate onto a

specific

mythical plane;

54

similarly, in the so-called spells for the deifi catio n of the

limbs, his body is sacramently interpreted by equating each part of his body with a

deity.

55

Sacramental explanation is a lso the principle behind the glossed funerary texts ,

notably the we l l -known 17 th chap te r f rom the Book of the Dead . I t thus seems

justified to consider whether a dramatic init ia tory interrogation, ra ther than the mere

philological need fo r com m enta ry , unde r l i e s the se spe ll s .

56

If we may genera l ize

Bidoli's

informative remarks on this matter , i t seems reasonable to assume that these

spells

or igina ted in the in i t ia t ion r i tes of var ious profess ions , such as : ne t-makers ,

bird-catchers, fish erm en, carpenters , emba lm ers (with respect to the deific ation of the

limbs ) and priests.

At

the term of his voyage through the hereafter , the deceased is subjected to an

interrogation at the hand s of thos e wh om he wish es to joi n. Here , as in the M agic

Flute, the interrogator remains anonymous.

57

Through his answers , the deceased must

prove himself a god: one who sits where they sit , s tands where they stand and eats

from that which they eat.

58

The gods l ive in a redis t r ibut ive community ,

5 9

itself a

projection

of earthly society. Membership in this community is the only way for the

deceased to partake of the sustenance of the gods; it is, on the other hand, the sharing

in

the divine nour ishment which makes him a member of the community of gods . This

specific m o t i f a p p e a r s r e p e a t e d ly a s a s a c r a m e n ta l e x p l a n a t i o n i n t h o s e s p e l l s

concerned

with the concre te ac t ion of ea t ing and dr inking, i .e . dea l ing with the

53

Bido li 1976.

54

Boo k of the De ad 125, end .

55

Book of the Dead 42. For the orig in of th is topic in the r i tual of em balm m ent see Al tenm ii l ler 1976,

624-627.

56

For a d i ffer ent in terpre ta t ion of BD 17 see RoGler-Kohler 1976. But in Egy pt , even com m enta ry ma y

assume

a r i tual for m , cf . Schot t 1954, 13ff . see a lso pp .31 ff . for the for m of in terrogat ion .

57

M o z a r t / S c h i k a n e d e r b o r r o w e d t h e c h a r a c t e r o f a n a n o n y m o u s i n t e r l o c u t e u r f r o m T e r r a s s o n ,

thon

(1731).

58 In Co ffin Texts Spel l 195 the god s address the candid ate to the her eaf ter wi th the wo rds: He l ives

from

what we l ive , he ea ts from what we eat , he drinks from what we drink .

59 Verso rgungsg eme inscha f t . S ee fo r t h is t e rm Assm ann 1976 , 16 -20 .



146

JAN ASSMANN

reception of funerary offer ings .

6 0

The m eans an d the end are fu l ly in terc hange able :

eating a n d d r i n k i n g ( a s o c i a l a c t o f p a r a d i g m a t i c s i g n i f i c a n c e ) a r e t h e i d e a l

concretizations

of the desi red socia l in tegra t ion , whi le socia l in tegra t ion inverse ly

represents the prerequisi te for sustenance in the hereafter. This peculiar relat ionship

between

sus t enance and communi ty re f l ec t s t he s t ruc tu re o f Egyp t i an soc ie ty , i n

which the officials not only received n o (or li t tle) salary, but were actual ly dep end ent

on

the household (the table) of their superior. The supply of earthly needs, especial ly

of food, thus becomes the symbol of social integrat ion: (a) in a group of fel low human

beings depending on the same source and (b) in relat ion to the patron, from whom the

nourishment issues . The exact same s t ructure may be found in the funerary tex ts ,

where

the deceased i s descr ibed as l iv ing , together wi th the o ther gods, f rom the

offering table of the sun-god . His me als co m e fr om the al tar of Re in Heliopolis.

6 1

3.3 The p ath to just i f icat ion

Justification

i s the cent ra l concept of Egypt ian funerary re l ig ion in which a l l

aspects o f t he ov er co m ing o f de a t h and o f sa lv a t ion in the nex t w or ld co m e

together.

62

It is as important , as i t is complex. We alone, who look upon the matter

from a sufficient ly detached point of view, might at tempt to describe i ts complexity by

means

of a conceptual analysis. In the Egyptian mind, i .e . from the point of view of

those l iving within this conceptual world, any such analyt ical approach would have

been unth inkable . The s t ructure of those funerary tex ts concerned wi th jus t i f ica t ion

may be divided into a number of aspects. The deceased must just i fy himself: (a) with

respect to the enemy (as the personificat ion of death), (b) with respect to n enemy,

who

might face him in the next world and perhaps bring forth accusat ions against him

in yo nd er court of just ic e and, final ly, (c) with respe ct to the divine prosecu tor and

judge,

in whose presence the deceased must answer for his conduct on earth and prove

himself worthy of eternal salvat ion. Aspect (a) forms the basis of the myth of Osiris,

63

(b) is especial ly important in the Coffin Texts

64

and (c) appears in i ts purest form in

60

It wo uld lead us too far astray to quote ex am ple s of this very co m m on top ic. Just to illustrate the

point

let me quote the following passage from a funerary l iturgy:

Thy bread is the bread of Re,

thy

beer is the beer of Hathor.

Thou getst up and siteth dow n for thy m eal

and

joinest the gods wh o fol low the god (Re) .

61

See espe cially CT III, passim .

62

justified m3c-hrw) is the usual epithet for a dece ased pe rson since the beginning o f the secon d

millenium.

See R. Anthes 1954, 2If f .

63

See Griff iths 1970 id., 1980; see also BD (translation Hornu ng) 166 , vers es 3-5; 151, 36 ff . 169,

62-64.

64

See Grieshammer 1970.



Death and Initiation in the Funerary Religion of Ancient Egypt

147

conjunct ion w i t h t h e g e n e r a l a c c e p t a n c e o f a j u d g e m e n t o f t h e d e a d , w h i c h , t h o u g h

already

r e c o g n i z a b l e t o w a r d s t h e e n d o f t h e 3 r d m i l l e n n i u m B . C . ,

6 5

o n l y b e c o m e s t h e

overal l d o m i n a n t a n d o b l i g a t o r y t r a it o f E g y p t i a n f u n e r a r y l i t e r a t u r e i n t h e N e w

Kingdom. I t s c a n o n i c a l f o r m , a s f o u n d i n C h a p t e r 1 2 5 o f t h e B o o k o f t h e D e a d ,

6 6

h a s

in

a n y c a s e n o k n o w n p r e d e c e s s o r s i n t h e o l d e r f u n e r a r y l i t e r a tu r e . O u r d i s c o u r s e s h a l l

be

r e s t r i c t e d t o t h i s o n e a s p e c t o f j u s t i f i c a t i o n .

3.3.1 The gates

May

y o u r s o u l bS ) k n o w t h e p a t h s o f y o n d e r w o r l d l e a d i n g t o t h e g a t e o f ' h e , w h o

conceals t h e w e a r y o n e ' . T h u s r u n s t h e p a r t i c u l a r l y p o l i t e w i s h o f a w i s e m a n t o a

pr ince i n a l a t e M i d d l e K i n g d o m t a l e.

6 7

T h e g a t e is a m o s t p r e g n a n t s y m b o l o f

transition. I n t h e 1 4 5 t h a n d 1 4 6 t h c h a p t e r s o f t h e B o o k o f t h e D e a d , t h i s i d e a f i n d s

itself s y s t e m a t i c a l l y e l a b o r a t e d i n t o a s e q u e n c e o f 2 1 g a t e s w h i c h t h e d e c e a s e d m u s t

pass

i n o r d e r t o r e a c h t h e o n e , w h o m t h e y c o n c e a l , t h e w e a r y o n e , i .e . O s i r is .

6 8

The g a t e s a r e g u a r d e d b y d e m o n s o r b e t t e r , a s o f l a t e m o r e c o r r e c t l j d i f f e r e n t i a t e d ,

6 9

by

a p o t r o p a i c g o d s . T h e i r i c o n o g r a p h y , c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y a n i m a l m a s k s a n d k n i v e s ,

ident if ies t h e m a s d a n g e r o u s a n d t e r r i f y i n g be in g s. ™ T h e d e c e a s e d w a r d s o f f th e i r

threat

b y c a l l i n g t h e m b y n a m e , b u t a l s o b y k n o w i n g t h e n a m e s o f t h e g a t e s ; h e

secures u n h i n d e r e d p a s s a g e b y s h o w i n g p r o o f o f h i s p u r i t y . H e k n o w s t h e m y t h i c a l

significance o f t h e w a t e r , i n w h i c h h e h a s b a t h e d , a n d w e a r s t h e a p p r o p r i a t e c l o t h i n g .

The n a t u r e o f t h e d o o r k e e p e r s ( a n d o f t h e a p o t r o p a i c g o d s i n g e n e r a l ) i s a m b i g u o u s :

the

t e r r o r t h e y e m b o d y i s m e a n t t o w a r d o f f e v i l , t h e c o n c e p t u a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f

which a r e i g n o r a n c e , i m p u r i t y a n d v i o l e n c e . T h e g a t e s a n d t h e i r k e e p e r s b u i l d a 2 1 - ,

65 Instruction for Merikare P 53 -5 7, F echt 1972, p. 147 with postscripts p.2 22 and p.2 28 f, Jansen-

Winkeln

1988.

66 For the history of the idea of the Judgment of the Dead, see especially Grieshamm er 1 970, 4 6- 7 0,

cf. also the excellent study by Brandon 1967 and the contribution by J. Yoyotte 1961. See also

the iconographical study by Seeber 1976.

67 pWestcar 7 , 25 -2 6, see A.M . Blackm an (ed. W.V. Da vies ) 1988, 8 . The gates sbhwt) of the

underworld and the doors sb3w) of the field of reeds are me ntione d in the Inscription of king

Neferhotep as objects of royal knowledge in connection with the theology of Osiris: W. Helck

1975 26 line 23.

68 Esp ecially im press ive depiction s of these gates are found in the tom bs of quee ns Nefertari and

Tausret.

I have published a funerary text dealing with the knowle dge and passage of these gates

in Assmann 1973, 94-97. This text is frequently written at the entrance of the tomb which

thereby bec om es transf igured, so that by entering the tom b the dec eas ed s ym bol ical l y

effectuates the transition into the underworld.

69 te Velde, Lexikon der Agyptologie I, 98 0-9 84 ; Altenmiil ler 1976, 63 5-6 40 . See also Meek s 1971,

19-84.

70 For the apotropaic function of terror and the mon struous, se e Lexikon der Agyptologie II, 36 2-3 67 ,

cf. also the contribution by H.G. Fischer in Fs.E.Porada.



148

JAN ASSMANN

14- 1 5 ) o r 7 - fo l d ( t h e n u m b e r a s s u c h n o t b e i n g a l l t h a t i m p o r t a n t ) p ro t e c t i v e

enclosure around the wea ry one , nam ely the dead Osi r i s , wh o l ives on as a deceased

god within the concealment of these walls. The wish of the deceased human being is

to identify his fate with that of Osiris. Only within the innermost enclosure of this

most secluded and therefore holiest

71

of all cosmic spheres will he also live as Osiris.

The

terrifying creatures at the gates wil l then be his own guards, protect ing him from

all evil.

72

In the Egyptian conception of the hereafter, the underworld is not thought of as a

realm

of darkn ess where death, the great level ler, caus es al l to sink indiscrim inately

into oblivion. It is, on the contrary, divided into three parts: a sphere of light, where

the

just i fie d dead l ive in a divine com mu nity centered a roun d the sun-god and Osiris,

a sphere of chaot ic darknes s , whe re the dam ned suffe r e ternal punishment ,

7 1

and a

sphere no t o f pu rg ing — th i s i dea seems to be fu l ly absen t f rom the Egyp t i an

conception of the her eaf ter — but of f i l te r in g , wh ere the evi l a re cau ght in the

catching-net or destroyed by the demons guarding the gates. The concept of a zone of

transition

is substant iated by the many formulat ions in which the idea of a qual ifying

passage is expre ssed in Eg yptian fu ner ary texts: in the B oo k of the Tw o Ways,

74

the

spells

of the seven gate-paths,

7 5

the chap ter on the 14 ab od es of the underw orld

7 6

and

the spell of the 12 crypts.

77

This idea was even adapted into a board game with the

characteristic nam e pa ssa ge . It require s two players . The object of the gam e is to

find

oneself a passage through 30 fields of salutary or evi l nature unti l one arrives in

the v i c i n i t y o f t h e g o d , w h o t h e n g r a n t s s u s t e n a n c e ( b r e a d a n d w a t e r ) a n d

71

For the correlation between the concep ts of seclusion and holiness, see Ho ffmeie r 1985.

72 The do uble fun ction of the guardians of the doors, to spread terror (averting the evi l) and to provid e

protection ( covering the weary , eg.

hbs b3gj ,

may be expressed less in the text itself than by

its

location in tomb decoration. In a tomb of the Late Period, one version o f this text (BD 145)

is written on the walls of the staircase leading from the upper to the subterranean part of the

tomb, i.e. from the upperworld to the underworld. It enh ance s the apotropaic aspect of the

gates and the meaning of their passage as a sort of qualifying examination. The guards face the

people who enter or descend. In another version, located further inside the tomb, they face from

outside in towards the owner of the tomb, who begs for their protection. See A ssma nn 1977b,

32-34, 5 9 - 6 4 .

73

See Hornung 1968.

74 Le sk o 197 2. For a very interesting thou gh rather spe cula tive interpretation of this text as texte

d initiation see Barguet 1969.

75 B D 144 with 147, see also CT spell 901 concerning the 7 chambers of the tomb (equated with the

underworld). The seven

c

rjjt (po rchw ays ) are also understoo d as the wa y to the field of

reeds,

the Elysian fields of the Egyptians, e.g. in chamber III of the Tanitic tomb of Osorkon.

76

B D 149 with many precursors in the CT. See for individual references Hornung 197 9a 506 ff .

77 B D 168, see A. Pianko ff and H. Jacquet-Gordon 1974.




149

justification.

78

It was, w ithout any dou bt, a lso played in l ife tim e for the sole pu rpo se of

enjoyment

shmh jb, E gypt ian for en joy m ent , l it .: to cause the hear t to forge t ) ,

but

h a s a l m o s t e x c l u s i v e l y c o m e to u s f r o m a f u n e r a r y c o n t e x t . P a r t i c u l a r l y

informative

in this matter is the evidence form the tomb of Sennedjem: here , the scene

is fou nd abov e a door, thus already impartin g the sense of pa ssa ge thro ugh its very

location.

F u r th e r m o r e , n e a r t h e g a m e - b o a r d , a t a b l e c o v e r e d w i th f o o d o f f e r i n g s

figuratively

conv eys the purpo se and goa l of the pass age : secur ing access to and

availability

of e ternal sustenance.

79

In the demotic ta le of Setne, Osiris s i ts enthroned in the seventh of seven halls

which

the decea sed m us t c ross in o rde r to r each the p lace o f jus t i f i c a t io n . T h is

sequence

of seven ga tes a lso seems to have been an important pr inc iple in temple

architecture, especially in the Late Period. I t appears in a particularly stra ightforward

manner

on a la te type of fa lse door (funerary ste lae), where up to seven interlocked

gates,

shown in super imposed

en face

relief , represen t a corre spo ndin g sequen ce of

rooms.

80

According to this conception, the underworld is imagined as a temple, in the

innermost and holiest part of which Osiris s i ts enthroned.

8

' T he pa th of vhe dec eas ed to

Osiris corresponds to the path of the priest on his way to the inne rm ost san ctuar y of

the

god. The path of the priest is furthermore sacramentally explained as an ascent to

the

heav ens. He ope ns the doo r-win gs of the sky in Karnak

82

and sees the my steries

of

the horizon.

83

If I mention these correlations, i t is to demonstrate yet once more

that Egy pt ian fun e ra ry m yth o lo gy in no way repre sen ts an au ton om ous f ie ld o f

religious

speculation, but is actually deeply interwoven with the ideas and concepts of

the

earthly cult of the gods. I t therefore would not seem justif ied to accept the idea of

an

init ia tion for funerary religion (as comm unis opinio presently sees i t) on the one

hand, while categorically re jecting i t for a ll other forms of Egyptian religion on the

other.

84

The fol lowing paragraph should, in my opinion, furnish the dec is ive proof for

this

theory.

78 Pusch 1979. Timothy Kendall , Passing Through the Netherworld (Belm ont, Ma ss.) has produced a

modern

reconstruction of the game.

79 Theba n Tom b TT 1, see Pusch 1979 , pl.28. The last part of the gam e deals with nourishm ent ( bread

in the hou se of breads, coo l w ater in the hou se of c oo l water ) and justif ica tion ( thou art

justified he says to me, namely Mehen ) .

8 L e C o r s u l 9 6 8 .

81 For the Setn e narrat ive, see the translat ion of Lich theim 1980 , 12 5- 15 1, esp. 139 f . For the

underworld of the temple, see Barguet 1969. According to its title, ch. 145 of the Book of the

Dead

descr ibes the gate of the field of reeds of the tem ple of Osiris and loc aliz es the field of

reeds in the innermost part of the temple (the holy of holiest).

82 For the title wn

c

3wj pt see Brovarski 1977.

83

For this, see Assm ann 1973, 19ff.

84 Cf. e.g. Hornung 1979b; Mo renz 1952.



150

JAN

ASSMANN

3 3

The Trial

The

goa l of the dece ased 's pas sag e is to reach the ha l l of twin t ruths , wh ere the

judgement

of the dead takes place. Access to this hall is the last of the qualifying

examinations

he must undergo simply to gain admittance to the tr ibunal. I t again takes

the

typical form of a cross-examination. He is f irs t questioned on his identity, then on

his

competence :

"Who

art tho u?, say they to m e,

"What

is thy na m e? , say they to m e.

"I

am the lower root of the papyrus-plant,

'He in the ol ive- t ree ' i s my name.

"Where

hast thou gone past? , say they to m e.

"I

have gone past the place to the north of the thicket.

"What has t thou seen there?

"It

was a leg and a thigh.

"What

has t thou sa id to them?

"I

have seen the jubi la t ion in yon lands of the Pho enic ian s .

"What

have they given thee?

"It

was a f laming f i re and a fayence amule t .

"What

has t thou done therewith?

"I

bur ied them on the shores of the Maat i wate rs dur ing evening sacr i f ice .

Etc, e tc . . .

That the ques t ions put forward here re fe r to a myst ica l knowledge , and more prec ise ly

yet to knowledge f rom the Osir is myste r ies , i s obvious .

8 5

They a re fol lowed by the

final

summons :

"Come

then and s tep through this ga te of the twin t ruths , for thou knowest

us "

In

the fol lowing examina t ion, the candida te must name the individua l par ts of the

door

using the mystical language, i .e . he must be able to interpret them on the divine

mythical p l a n e . T h i s p r o c e s s o f s a c r a m e n t a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n h a s a l r e a d y b e e n

discussed.

8 6

T h e t h i r d a n d s h o r t e s t e x a m i n a t i o n i s c a r r i e d o u t b y T h o t , t h e

psychopompos,

w ho leads the decease d into the ha l l of jus t ice . H e asks only fou r

questions:

W hy has t thou com e? — To be announ ced . W ha t i s thy condi t ion ? — I

am

free of every s in . W ho m sha l l I ann oun ce thee to? — To him , wh ose ce i ling is

fire,

wh ose wal ls a re l iv ing urae i , wh ose hou se-f loo r is the f loo d. W ho is tha t? —

85

Cf. Gr iffiths 198 0 30 ff. with further refer enc es.

86 C f . n . 3 0 .




151

Osiris.

"The n be take thyse l f th i the r : beho ld , thou a rt ann ou nce d " Th e fo l low ing

verdict anticipates the tribunal's decision. We shall return to it later.

The ac tua l t r ia l , f igura t ive ly formula ted by the weighing of the hear t aga ins t a

symbol of t ruth , and the "nega t ive confess ion" of the candida te , who must enumera te

42

sins in the presen ce of 42 fune rary jud ges w hile swearin g not to hav e com mitte d

them, t ru ly be long to the fundamenta l s o f Egypt ian re l ig ion . They have been the

subject of extens ive research.

87

We sha l l there fore be br ie f in our descr ipt ion. The

negative

form of the "confess ion" should not surpr ise us : i t i s mere ly the logica l

consequence

o f t h e n e g a t i v e s t r u c tu r e o f e t h i c s ( t h e " f o r b id d e n f r u i t "

8 8

) , f i rs t

articulated in s en te nc es s uc h a s " th o u s ha lt n o t w h e r e u p o n f o ll o w s t he a n sw e r: "I

have not This type of form ulatio n is inherent to the subject ma tter and doe s not

necessarily point to i ts original "Sitz im Leben." R. Grieshammer, who brought up this

question, therefore a lso bases his argumentation on the actual content of the "negative

confession.

89

He divides the 42 sins into three approximately equally large categories:

offenses of s tr ic t ly cul t ic na tur e , v iola t ions w ithin the tem ple adm inis t ra t ion , and

infringements

with regard to e thical principles of more general character . The same

tripartite structure is a lso found in texts inscribed in the temple doorways used by the

priests of the Late Egyptian Period.

90

To all appearances, they would seem to reflect

'admittance

l i turgies ' which the priests had to recite upon entering the temple,

91

but

probably

a lso had to swear by dur ing pr ies t ly in i t ia t ion ceremonies .

9 2

"Just as the

priest had to vow, during his f irs t init ia tion and upon entering the temple, not to have

committed certa in actions, the deceased must, in the same way, give assurance of his

purity upon entering the sacred sphere of the hereafter ."

93

I t would there fore appear

that

we a re dea l ing here with a pr ies t ly in i t ia t ion r i tua l , which only subsequent ly

became

part of the l i terary and conceptual vocabulary of funerary religion.

The outcome of the tr ia l , however, has aspects other than simply gaining admittance

to the divine sphere of existence. First of a ll , the survival of the deceased's individual

personality depends on it . Personal identity is , for the Egyptian, a function of social

integration and approval.

94

A human being is a person only within the l imits of the

image

which the (significant) others hold of him. The justif ication brought forth in the

judgement of the dead is itself a formulation of this social approval and is meant to

ensure

the e te rna l su rv iva l o f h i s pe r sona l i ty among the b le s sed sp i r i t s o f the

87 Cf. especially Yoyotte 1961; Brandon 1967; R. Grieshammer 1970 and Seeber 1 976.

88 Cf. Bergson 1932/1982, p . l .

89 Ibid. (n.2).

90 Griesham mer, 1974 , p.2 2 ff., add Gutbub 1973, 149ff.

91 The remarkable parallels in Biblica l Texts have been pointed out by Koch 1961 .

92 Such an oath in Greek is published by Merke lbach 1968 , cf. also the recent article by M erkelbac h

1987

93 Grieshamm er 1974, p.25 cf . also Griff iths 1988.

94 Cf. Lexikon der gyptologie IV (198 2), 96 3- 97 8 s.v. Personlichkeitsbegriff und -bewuBtsein .



152

JAN ASSMANN

underworld. He is henceforth no longer an immaterial shadow, but , for instance, the

high s teward A me nem ope w ho may now place h is ear th ly off ices and name s be tween

the new t it les Os i r i s and jus t i f ied , both acqui red in the judg em ent of the dead. The

second aspect of the t rial is the acceptance of the deceased into the ' redistribut ive

community,'

in which gods and spiri ts are thought to l ive in and which is modeled

after the pat tern of ear th ly socie ty . Sus tena nce and soc ia l in tegra t ion e xis t , in the

Egyptian

mind, as one indivisible whole: they merely represent two aspects of one and

the same thing. The desired verdict of the funera ry jud ge ap propria tely form ulate s it :

A

truly righteous one.

Let him be given the bread and beer,

which issues forth from Osiris.

He shal l be forever amongst the fol lowers of Horus.

95

The con cep t ion of the jud ge m en t of the dead i s thus f i t ted in to the mor e gene ra l

context of ideas, which, as discussed in the previous sect ion, see in sustenance and

social integrat ion the prerequisi tes of a blessed state of being in afterl i fe.

4 Death and Ini t iat ion in the Is i s-Myster ies of Apule ius

Accessi confin ium mort i s

et calcato Proserpinae l imine

per omnia vectus e lementa remeavi ,

nocte media vidi solem

candido coruscantem lumine

deos inferos et deos superos

accessi coram

et adoravi de proxumo.

9 6

I entered the boundary of death,

and as I stepped across Proserpina 's threshold,

I was carried by al l elements and returned;

At

midnight , I caught sight of the sun,

dazzling in radiant light,

I approached the lower and upper gods

and

prayed to them face to face.

95 Pap. BM 104 70 (Pap.Ani) col.3^ 4 cf. Seeber 1976 , p. 114. For the correlation of jurisdiction and

provision in'the Egyptian world, cf. Assmann 1970, 58-65.

96

Apu leius of Madauros,

etamorphoseon

XL , 285 cap. 23.




153

The

Egypt ian assoc ia t ions present in th is descr ipt ion have of ten been emphas ized.

9 7

We

are dealing here with a

katabasis,

i .e . a r i tual desce nt into the und erw orld , w hich,

in

this case , is v isua l ly and a rchi tec tonica l ly ac tua l ized by a descent in to a c rypt

decorated

wi th cosmograph ic repre sen ta t ions . In the p rec i se same way , the roya l

tombs

of the New Kingdom are decora ted with representa t ions of the underworld ,

thereby equa t ing the entombment of the king to a descensus ad inferos.

96

The wal l -

paintings of these tombs a re cosmographies : they descr ibe the pa th of the sun-god,

sailing in his bark through the hourly regions of the underworld and of the sky. The

mystical character of these bo ok s, in the sense of a cod ificatio n of an esoteric and

secret

knowledge, is c learly expressed in these representations, as are the clues that

the

origins of this l i terature are to be found not in funerary religion, but in the solar

cult.

Admittedly, we cannot produce the decisive source materia l in support of our

hypothesis.

As a result of fortuitous circumstances, the tombs on the edge of the ferti le

Nile

Valley have been preserved, while the temple-libraries in the valley i tself have

been lost in the wake of expanding agriculture and urbanization. The reservations of

Egyptologists,

wh o cannot conce ive of m yste ry and ini t ia t ion outs ide the context

of

funerary religion, appear, in the l ight of the manifold evidence brought together in

this discourse , as an untenable a rgum ent e silentio.

In the cosm ograp hic bo ok s of the roya l tom bs, both dei inferi and dei superi are

found together. The dei inferi are the inhabitants of the underworld, to whom the sun-

god,

accompanied by his divine retainers, descends nightly in his bark. The deceased

king

sails a long in the solar bark and prays to the gods

de proxumo.

The concept ion

that

a human be ing , once dead , mee ts the gods face to f ace ,

10 0

a f te r hav ing on ly

worshiped

them in their symbolic representations during his earthly existence, is an

oft

repeated motif in Egy ptian fun erary li turgies ( V erklaru ngen ):

All

the gods, whom thou hast worshiped since thou existe th,

thou

shalls t enter face to face with them.

They are ready to receive thy 'Ba '

and

to protect thy mummy.

101

Even the pa ssa ge of the decea sed throug h the 21 gates, the 7 halls , the 15 places

(BD

149), e tc . . . of the underworld represents a descensus ad inferos which br ings him

at

long last in the physical presence of Osiris and of his divine retainers:

97

For details see Griff iths 1975, 29 6- 30 8. Cf. espec ially Bergman 1982.

98 Cf . Brunner 1980, 21 5-2 28 .

99 Pace Barta 1985 and Wente 19 82. See Assma nn 1970, and, for further substantiation, Ass m ann

1983 chapter 1.

1

For

adoravi de proxumo

cf . the numerous parallels in Griffiths 1975, 3 03 -3 08 , but also Gardiner,

in: PSBA

35 (1913), 169ff .

1 1

Theban Tomb TT 50, harper s song, see M. Lichtheim, in: JNE S 4, 1945, 198.



154

JAN ASSMANN

To

separate NN from al l his sins,

to see the face of all gods

is the t i tle of the psy cho stas ia in the Bo ok of the Dead.

10 2

But by the same act the

deceased

enters also into the presence of the sun-god, who travels nightly through the

underworld with his ow n divine ret inue. To look upon the sun, w hen i t sets and is

worshiped by the go ds is the pro fess ed goal of the fun era ry spel ls.

103

In the ini t iat ion of Lucius, the voyage through the underworld stands for a symbolic

death,

fol lowed on the next morning by his resurrect ion as the sun-god: adorned with

a palm wreath ad instar solis he appears to the cheering crowd,

104

just as the just i fied

deceased at the judgement of the dead. The fol lowing quote is taken from one of the

oldest texts, in which this conception may be recognized:

Trembling befal ls the eastern horizon,

announced

are the paths of i ts remoteness

to

Osi r i s NN, who hath come for th as Re

and looms h igh above as Atum,

after Ha thor hath anointed him

after

she hath given him (eternal) l i fe in the West

like Re, day by day.

O Osiris NN, there is nei ther god nor goddess,

who might bring forth a charge against thee

on

the day o f reckon ing (= judgemen t o f t he dead)

before the Great One, the Lord of the West .

Thou eatest bread from the offering table of Re

in the company of the Great Ones at the gates.

105

No one doubts that the ini t iat ion ri tes of the Isis-mysteries, as Apuleius ventures to

describe

them, are deeply rooted in the uniquely elaborated ri tuals and conceptions of

Egyptian

funerary rel igion. The same holds t rue for other ini t iat ion ri tuals. Seen from

this

aspect , a relat ionship between death and ini t iat ion is not disputed. A number of

clues l i s ted in th is survey, however , have g iven us reason to look in the opposi te

102 pap.BM 10470 col .3, see n.95.

103

Assm ann 1 969, 28 ff .; Griffiths 1975 , 30 3- 30 8. M agical spells have the pow er to ma ke the sun-go d

and his circle of deities appear, even for one who is in the underworld.

104 Con cernin g Ap uleiu s, ch.2 4, Griffiths correctly calls attention to the wreath of justifica tion ,

which the vindicated individual receiv es in the judgm ent of the dead (B D 19), cf. Derchain

1955 225-287.

105 CT spell 45 .

106

Cf. Hornung 1979c und 1977; Assm ann 198 3 ch.2.



Death


155

direction.

Let us at tempt to formulate our results into a hypothesis : the funerary r i tes

take

the fo rm of an in i t i a t ion in to the my s te r i e s o f the un de rw or ld (Ho rnun g) ,

because

they ref lect the corresp ond ing r i tes and conce ptions of cult ic r i tuals in this

world

of which, for obvious reasons, we know next to nothing.

The

appea rance o f the deceased , r e sp . o f the in i t i a t ed a s the sun -god , b r ings

together

b o t h c o n c e p t u a l s p h e r e s w h i c h w e h a d l a b e l l e d — a g a i n : m e r e l y f o r

demonstrative purposes — biom orph ic and t rans i t ional mo dels . The mul t ip l ic ity

of

concepts , through which the nature of the sun is expressed in Egyptian mythical

thought

combines the mystery of the passage with that of rebir th. The solar cycle, a

mythical

event of archetypal and fundamenta l s igni f icance , takes p lace not only in

o

tempore bu t th roug hou t p re sen t e t e rn ity . Du r ing h i s n igh t ly descensus ad

inferos

the sun-god crosses the 12 gates and hourly regions of the underworld, only to

be

reborn every morning in his new appearance: having entered the tai l of a snake as

an

old man, he emerges from its mouth as a youth; he is swallowed by the goddess of

the

heavens in the evening and reborn through her in the morning. Within this world

of

endless representat ional and conceptual possibil i t ies for the solar cycle,

10 6

we f ind

that

all Egyptian contemplations of change, renewal, rebir th and eternal l i fe have been

paired

with a corresponding world of mythical precedents and reali t ies .

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Assmann Death and Initiation